A Louisiana resident has filed a lawsuit seeking to take former President Donald Trump’s name off of the state’s presidential primary ballot in March. Ashley Reeb of Chalmette filed the petition. Loyola University Law Professor Dane Ciolino says the petitioner believes Trump should be disqualified because he violated Section Three of the 14th Amendment.
“Under that section, somebody who is engaged in insurrection and who was an officer of the United States is ineligible for the Presidency,” said Ciolino.
Ciolino says the courts are facing three difficult questions when determining if the former president should be disqualified.
“Was President Trump an officer of the United States, was what happened January 6, 2021 an insurrection and did President Trump ‘engage’ in that insurrection,” said Ciolino.
A similar lawsuit was successful in Colorado, but not in Michigan. Ciolino says the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually have to step in.
“And whatever the Supreme Court decides in that Colorado litigation is going to control what happens all over the United States, including Louisiana,” said Ciolino.
President Trump is facing numerous felony charges including accusations he attempted the results of the 2020 election. The U.S. Justice Department says the attack on the nation’s capitol on January 6, 2021 was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy. Trump calls the charges fake.
Ciolino says the constitution does not say someone has to be convicted of insurrection in order to be found in violation of the 14th Amendment.
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